Scientists have developed bio-inspired robots that "see" and mimic the behaviour of live fish in real time, and may help improve our understanding of marine animals. Biomimetic robots have been deployed alongside live animals to better understand the drivers of animal behaviour, including social cues, fear, leadership, and even courtship. Researchers tapped advances in real-time tracking software and robotics to design and test the first closed-loop control system featuring a bioinspired robotic replica interacting in three dimensions with live zebrafish. While mirroring is a basic, limited form of social interaction, these experiments are a powerful first step toward enriching the exchange between robots and live animals. Scientists are now investigating social interactions among live zebrafish to better understand the animals' natural cues and responses.

Source: dna February 08, 2018 06:56 UTC